“Mind the hatch,” Cal pointed out the ankle high framing of the entryway. China Doll’s cockpit looked to be in order.
I conjure our new flyboy knows how to leave it straight, he thought as his eyes took inn the gleaming skyscrapers of Capital City through the viewports. Tamping down the alienation such a sight landed in his gut, the captain dogged the hatch behind Quill, sealing the pair inside, free of earshot from the full galley table.
“Any other day,” he regarded the woman, “I’d tell you this was another one ‘o’ them places not to go, secrets or no,” Cal set his hat upon the pilot’s chair as he leaned against the console’s railing. “Hopin’ we might play another round of ‘Honest Answers,” he said as the silver case flipped open. As the flaming match set his cigarette to glow, the captain pulled a lungful. With care to avoid sending a cloud of smoke into the Companion’s face, he exhaled toward the ceiling. “I’ll go first. Whattya think of our plan to get them Ana…Anabaptists…offa this rock?”
Quill took the Captain’s warning about the hatch as she stepped over the frame. The Captain shut the door, leading Quill to think this was going to be an interesting conversation. As the Captain spoke to her, and asked her about their plan, her mind wandered back to when they first brought up this idea. At first, she questioned their sanity, but thought better against it. After all, there were far too many injustices in the universe. Wasn’t it up to people to put good back to counteract the bad?
“If you want my honest answer Captain, I would tell you that we are all in way over our head. Now I know I am new to this ship, but I am not new at reading people. You got figures from all walks of life on this ship. Some that you know well, some you don’t. Some they know well, some they don’t. And you are asking them to all work together to help out for a good cause. That’s wishful thinking.” As she spoke, she gave off a sense of empathy. Her words were not laced with barbs. “That’s not to say what we are going to do is bad and that we shouldn’t. What I would suggest is knowing exactly how each person could benefit and ensuring they are where they need to be. That might mean you have to play “Honest Answers” with more than just me. Heck, you might have to play it with people you flew on this ship with for a while now.”
He adopted a relaxed posture, one long leg crossed over the other as he leaned against the railing, lazy smoke curling up from his cigarette. “Can’t find fault in a thing you said,” he presently spoke. “It’s a mighty big ask, even for them’s been on this boat the past year…and there ain’t enough clock on this to peer into all the souls I gotta count on. Still,” Cal continued, speaking as if he were still mulling out the details to satisfy the disquiet in his gut, “there’s plenty to keep folk hoppin’ for the next three days. If this was Silverhold,” he cast a glance once more toward the hyper modern cityscape, “Triumph…hell, even Beaumonde, I’d call it a lead pipe cinch. But Osiris?” Cal’s eyes met Quill’s. “Let’s just say I don’t spend a lotta time on worlds like this. And that’s why I added the cockpit to your tour.”
Cal doused the smoldering butt in a decorated ash can, a backhanded gift from the Doll’s former pilot. “I mighta cracked wise earlier over how you earn your keep,” he offered, “but I conjure true that a woman such as yourself walks in circles I got no chance of settin’ eyes to. So it got me thinkin’...” he paused to straighten his posture. “If a fella like me was to ask about any pull you might have with some ‘o’ the high folk in that town, what’s the chances you could answer honest without breakin’ one of your rules?”
Quill considered the Captain’s words and was pleased he had given the matter some much needed thought. It was true she had walked in high circles. Her family was one, after all. But Quill knew the guild rules and she followed them routinely. She enjoyed her job, even if it might not have been what she would have chosen for herself.
“Rules dictate that there be privacy when work is conducted. What occurs is a sacred union between two consenting parties. However, not all follow that ideal and, more often than not, those who do not are left with a black mark, meaning we will no longer work with them. If there is one such individual on Osiris, I believe I can answer honestly about them. For the others though, that will require finesse. I have…..walked through higher class environments long before I became a Companion. So I can provide help there when possible. But I also value my job. I assure you I will do all I can, though.”
“Mmmmm.” The captain thought on that a moment. She’d given him far more to consider than he originally thought, and her offer of help rang genuine, despite polished behavior that the knocks in his life warned him to doubt. If eyes were the mirrors to the soul, what he read in hers had broken past their earlier games. “I still aim to back Yuri’s play,” he said, “but I’d feel powerful better with an Ace or two tucked up my sleeve. It’s pushin’ way too hard to get the Alliance or the cops to look the other way, or I’d just swoop in an’ pick ‘em all up at once.”
The cockpit went silent as the captain tried to work this problem from many sides. After a moment’s patient wait by the Companion, his face brightened with an idea. “Osiris is the home of all the law in the ‘verse,” Cal said. “I heard slavers get a writ before they take folk from the blackout zone. Thought about somethin’ forged, but I’ve heard price of that on Osiris could put my boat in hock.” His glance found Quill once again. “Any chance you might have a connection for the genuine article?”
Quill thought for a moment. She could possibly look through her contacts and find someone. It would require finesse and Osiris, for all its glitz and glamour, could be a dangerous place. “Possibly, I would have to see. And even then, there’s no guarantee. Osiris can be just as dangerous as any other planet despite the shine it has. But if it helps I can reach out to a friend of mine. She has connections.”
“Copy that,” Cal gave a solemn nod as he watched shuttles dart among the distant towers. “A danger I’m none too certain of sussin’ out ‘til it lands on my doorstep, so I’m much obliged for your expertise. Whole job came as a surprise. Any other day I’da pushed back for a deal less crabbed, but somethin’ about ‘em…these simple folk.” He shook his head. “This ‘un’s about as black-and-white as they come,
dohn mah?”
Quill understood where the Captain was coming from. In her work, hell..even her life, she had run across many different types of people Those who shook hands and kissed babies while they slept around on their partners and shuffled money to people to buy silence or worse. These people, regardless of the choices they made, needed help. And it seemed like they were the only ones who could do something.
“Well I am happy to lend what help I could in dealing with these sorts of people. I don’t know if you are aware of the full extent of Companion training, but we are not just pretty flower to enjoy. We are also trained to handle situations if they become dangerous. Even the prettiest of roses still has thorns.”
Cal grunted; that much came obvious to the captain. A woman might carry herself with a degree of poise brought on by training, but he’d sized Quill Cassidy up for one who could handle herself just fine, whether it was denims or a cocktail dress. “Good to know,” he replied. “This crew just come out a scape to get one of ours back. I aim to do my best to keep everybody outta the crosshairs this time out, and for that,” he said, “I thank you for your kindness. Now, I’ll beg pardon. Got my hands full this afternoon.”
He unsealed the hatch, sliding it open with a mild screech of protesting metal. “Have to get my mechanic to see to that,” Strand quipped as he held it for her passage. “Yuri an’ I will be out for a couple hours, but I conjure we shouldn’t be too hard to find.”
Quill let the Captain leave as she stood there, thinking about how she would go about this. She would have to contact a few people before they even set foot on Osiris. It would take some time, but in order for this plan to go off with as few hitches as possible, it was worth it. Sometimes being a good person was exhausting.
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